Planking clamp



P. H. FLUHR PLANKING CLAMP Nov. 12, 1940.

Filed Jan. 26, 1940 Patented Nov. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to clamping tools and more particularly to a planking clamp adapted Afor use in building vessels such as ships and boats, the object of the invention being to provide an 5 improved planking clamp, simple in construction and readily and economically manufactured' and which will be yeflicient and practical in use particularly for the double `planking of such vessels and is an improvement upon the planking clamp w shown and described in my Patent 1,395,566, dated November l, 1921, wherein it was stated:

When a vessel or ship is in the process of construction and the skeletonr wood framework has been completed, it is the practice to lay planking l5 longitudinally of the vessel and across the ribs of the skeleton framework. The planks must be laid one above another and before a plank can be nailed to the ribs, it must be placed in its proper position with respect to the neXt adjacent plank and firmly and rigidly retained in such position during the process of nailing the plank to the rib. Heretofore, a simple and well known form of clamp has been employed which will grip the rib and adjacent portion of the plank together but in order to edge-set the plank, that is to say, force the plank by means of edgewise pressure as closely as possible to the next lower plank in order that there will be a minimum of space between the adjacent planks and in order to prevent the calking from going through, it has been the common practice also to use any make-shift wedging means at hand. This practice of im- `provising wedges for edge-setting is objectionable in many ways. I'he wedges frequently slip or jar loose while the planking is being nailed and hence considerable loss of time results from this uncertain and crude method. Furthermores this method of using or adapting any form of boards, planks and the like at hand for wedging purposes 40 results in considerable waste of materia i l* As is usual in the construction of these vessels, a boring machine is used to drill holes for the reception of nails prior to nailing the planks to the ribs of the framework. In the clamping devices heretofore employed, inasmuch as it was necessary to apply the clamp directly over the place where the plank is nailed to the rib, it was therefore necessary to remove and reposition the clamp before the boring machine could be used and the plank nailed to the rib, resulting in further loss of time.

The improved clamp described in my said patent could be used only in cnnection with the single planking of vessels, it not being adapted for the double planking thereof as the edgeclamp had to be close to the rib to engage the edge of the plank and, hence, could not extend beyond the plank to engage an overlapping plank. Therefore, the object of the present invention is the provision of an improved planking clamp 5 adapted for the double planking of vessels and it comprises a single unit consisting of four clamps adapted to perform in a single step in the planking of vessels what has heretofore required several steps, the improvement consisting of a 10 unitary planking clamp having a rib clamp, a pair of edge-setting clamps, one for each plank of the double planking, and a face retaining clamp for holding the planks in place and adjustable to any position. 15

In the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of this improved planking clamp, and

Fig. 2 is a top, partly sectional, View thereof.

Similar characters of reference indicate cor- 20 responding parts in the several views.

Before explaining in detail the present irnprovement and its mode of operation, I desire to have it understood that the invention is not limited to the details of construction and arrange- 25 ment of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing since the invention is capable of other embodiments, and that ther phraseology employed is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 30

This improved clamp comprises, in the preferred form thereof, a rib clamp 2 consisting of a U-shaped body or shank having at one end a xed clamping jaw 3 for engaging the inner side of the rib of the vessel and at the opposite end al 35 fixed arm 4 provided with a threaded bore for the reception of a rotatable device or screw 5 having a thumb nut 6. The inner end of this screw carries loosely a movable and rotatable clamping jaw l for clamping the outer side of 40 the rib, the jaws 3 and 'l thus cooperating to engage the rib above the planks to be nailed thereto.

Carried by the movable jaw l is a pair of plank edgesetting tools or clamps 8 and 9, each com- 45 prising a rotatable member or screw Il! and Il threaded into the movable jaw 'l and having at their lower ends rotatable clamping plates l2 and I3 for engaging the upper edges of the overlapping planks. 50

The' screw Il is provided with a thumb nut I4 for rotating it while the screw l0 is minus the thumb nut since it would interfere with the rotation thereof and any suitable means may be used to rotate this screw. 55

Due to the fact that the movable jaw 1 may be freely rotated about its axial line of movement, the entire edge-setting clamping tool will rotate therewith and, hence, is shiftable .relative to the movable jaw and in any plane at right angles to its axial line of movement. Therefore, it

will be seen that after the clamp 2 has been applied to the rib and a plank B placed in position above and adjacent to the next lower plank A,

that in order to edge-set the plank B, it is merely necessary to adjust the screw Ii and its plate I3 against the upper edge ofthe plank lB so as firmly to press it into edge-wise engagement against the next lower plank and then adjust the screw I and its plate l2 into engagement with the outer overlapping plank C` in a similar manner.

As the edge setting tools, by virtue of the pivotal mounting of the jaw 'l may be rotated as desired around the axial line of movement of the jaw 'I and its screw 5,. it will be seen that the plates I2 and I3 may be adapted to conform to any angle other than the horizontal shown in Fig. 1, and inasmuch as these plates I2 and I3 may also be rotated, it will be obvious that the tool will readily conform to varying surfaces and conditions.

In my prior improvement, an auxiliary clamp was mounted on the under side of the body or shank of the rib clamp 2 and, therefore, had a somewhat limited movement. In the present improvement, this auxiliary clamp I5 comprising a clamping plate I'I and screw I8 with thumb nut I9 carried by a swinging arm I6 is mounted in a pair of ears 2I located on the rear edge of the body or shank of the clamp 2 and through these ears a pivoted bolt or rod 2li carrying the arm I6 extends. This auxiliary clamp thus has a swinging movement independent of the side clamp 2 to a considerable extent and is operative to clamp the outer side or face of the plank at any desired point as shown in full and dotted lines and thus is movable in a plurality of directions relative to the rib. The`present structure, therefore, not only has a longer swinging movement, as stated, but is better adapted for use when the clamp is reversed to the opposite side of the rib of the vessel.

In using this improved unitary clamp, each '50 plank is put on separately, the two lower inside f planks rst being positioned and fastened to the rib with the clamp 9 edge-setting the upper plank B and then, without changing the position Yof the rib clamp 2 or the clamp 9, the outside ,155 overlapping plank is placed in position and edgeset by the clamp S, thus avoiding the difficulty heretofore experienced in placing this outside plank in position'and fastening it with the present method of fastening such as blocks, wedges 60 and shores, especially as this clamp 8 may be readily removed or raised out of the way when Vthe clamp is only used for single planking.

In operation, it will be observed that my improved clamping device is adapted to combine 65 several important functions in the planking of vessels, namely, first to retain or hold the plank B against the ribs of the vessel and second to edge-set this plank by the application of downward and edgewise pressure, thus positioning it 70 rmly against the next lower plank which has already been nailed to the ribs of the vessel. The clamp 2 is affixed to the ribs suiciently high to enable the plank to be placed in position when the thumb nut 6 is turned so that the jaws of the main clamp will firmly grip the rib. Thirdly, when thev overlapping plank is applied, the swinging clamp IB which may be applied at any desired point firmly holds it in position and then, fourthly, the plank C is similarly edge-set by the clamp 8 so that after the drilling of suitable holes in the plank, the usual nails may be used for fastening it. f

It will also be understood that by increasing the length of the arm I6, the position of its clamp plate can always be located at one or the other side of the rib instead of directly opposite the rib, if preferred, and it will also be seen` that by means of this improved quadruple clamp, the rib clamping means thereof formed by the jaws 3 and 'I can be so located on the rib that it does not have to be moved or remo-ved during the fastening of each plank to the rib.

It is to be understood that, by describing in detail herein any particular form, structure or arrangement of parts it is not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the claims.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use,

I claim:

1. In a tool of the class described, clamping means adapted to engage the rib of a vessel, clamping means swingingly supported thereby at its outer rear face for face-clamping a plank in position, and a pair of independently adjustable edge-setting clamps supported by said rib clamping means and spaced one in front of the other to yengage the parallel edges of a pair of planks for exerting edgewise pressure against overlapping planks to be fastened. v

2. A planking clamp comprising clamping means for positioning the clamp on the rib of a vessel away from the plank to be fastened andA including a shiftable and rotatable jaw, a pair of edge-setting clamps supported by said shiftable jaw for movement therewith and transversely thereto and spaced apart to engage the edges of a pair of overlapping planks for edge-setting overlapping planks, and a swinging clamp carried at the outer rear side of the ribclamping means and shiftable into different positions` to face clamp said planks.

3. A planking clamp comprising clampingY means for positioning the clamp o-n the rib of a vessel away from the plank to be fastened and including a jaw shiftable in transverse directions, rotatable means for adjusting said jaw, a pair of parallelly located edge-setting clamps supported` `shiftable into different positions to face-clamp said planks, and rotatable means for adjusting said clamp.

' PHILIP I-I. FLUHR. 

